Oakton club goes with the flow to make a difference at Cleveland-area crisis shelter

Posted by Oakton Community College, Community Contributor

Posted by Oakton Community College, Community Contributor

Community Contributor Oakton Community College

Members of Oakton Community College's Students for Global Health and Sustainability (SGHS) used quick thinking to provide assistance to a Cleveland-area crisis shelter for women after a planned service trip to Haiti fell through this past summer.

Club members Arleta Thursby (Glenview), Anthony Felix (Des Plaines), Geri Lawrin (Park Ridge), Kristin Kostynick (Wilmette) and Alexandra Daemicke (Forest Park) were originally slated to go to Haiti in July to give workshops on diabetes, high blood pressure and hygiene at clinics. However, with uprising and upheaval in the Caribbean country, SGHS decided to pull the plug on the service project despite spending months on the logistics of providing educational opportunities in Haiti.

"We all felt strongly about dedicating time to doing a service project," Thursby, club president, explains. "Even though the trip to Haiti didn't work because of safety reasons, the club still wanted to do something in the spirit to help others. We can't take our good fortune for granted. Giving back to the less fortunate makes the world a better place."

Laura's Home Women's Crisis Center-a nonprofit organization that provides meals, housing and support for women and children in need-was on the group's radar to assist with a future service project, and the club managed to work out the details of heading to Ohio in July in less than a week.

While the students didn't provide educational resources to the shelter, club members rolled up their sleeves and spruced up a family room with a new coat of paint in just six hours.

"We greatly appreciate the hard work of the team from Oakton," Laura's Home Program Manager Michael Hahn says. "The group painted one of our largest family rooms that holds up to 10 people. This will provide families that occupy that room with a sense of peace and safety as they recover from their crisis. Without groups like the Oakton students, we wouldn't be able to serve the thousands of people who come through our doors each year."

"The residents were very welcoming and understanding of our operation and mission," Kristi Zenchak, club adviser and Oakton professor of biology, says. "This helps to strengthen our partnership with the shelter and provides comfort to others that there is good in humanity."

Thursby said the experience helped her and others in the club come away with a new perspective.

"We are so privileged, and it's our duty to give back," Thursby says. "We all could be one step away from being homeless and we are no better than the residents at the shelter. If I was in that situation, I would want someone to help me."

This recent trip continues the club's commitment to service and reinforces Oakton's first-year experience theme of "Poverty and Privilege." In 2017, SGHS traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota, to conduct a women's health weekend at the Women of Nations shelter. Two years ago, the club sent members to Nicaragua to provide female health education to residents.

"The amazing thing about SGHS is that the members think of others before themselves," Zenchak says.

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